THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 1 89 



pubescent character of the common species. The leaves are thin and the 

 leaflets are sharply toothed and prominently long-pointed. One of the 

 most prominent characters lies in the leaflet-stalks. Upon vigorous shoots 

 the leaflets are five, and the three upper ones have stalks from one to two 

 inches long." 



THE SAND BLACKBERRIES 



Two species of southern Rubi pass under the name Sand blackberries. 

 These are Rubiis ciineifoliHs and Rubus probabilis, similar and yet quite 

 distinct. (For botanical differences see these species in Chapter II.) 

 Several varieties belonging to one or the other of the species have been 

 grown on the grounds of this Station in the last twenty years. These 

 are Topsy, Perfection, Nanticoke, and Robison. None have value this 

 far north. The plants of these varieties are of medium size, erect, stiff, and 

 bear the most wicked thorns of any of the cultivated brambles. The ber- 

 ries are small, but the drupelets are large, hang together poorly, but cling 

 quite too tenaciously to the receptacles. The berries have the reputation 

 in the South, as they grow wild, of being well flavored, but transplanted to 

 the garden, especially this far north, they are sour, insipid and worthless. 

 The histories of the varieties just named, as given in Chapter VI, must 

 serve as an account of the domestication of the Sand blackberries. 



THE OREGON EVERGREEN BLACKBERRY 



It is not improbable that the Oregon Evergreen blackberry was the 

 first variety of this fruit to be cultivated in America. The writer, in 1897, 

 as horticioltiorist of the Oregon Experiment Station, fotmd this blackberry 

 widely distributed and commonly cultivated in Oregon, Washington, 

 California, and the Rocky Mountain States, under the name Oregon Ever- 

 green. In the far west it is one of the most remarkable of all small fruits. 

 Its product is seldom found in the markets, but it supplies countless homes 

 in town and country with a very agreeable and acceptable small fruit from 

 the normal blackberry season in July through the summer until late October. 

 It cannot be grown successfully east of the Rocky Mountains without 

 winter protection in the North and much coddling in hot summers. But 

 even so, because of its enormous productiveness and the everbearing habit 

 of the plants, it is a most promising fniit for hybridization with other 

 blackberries. It is offered by eastern nurserymen under various names, 

 the most common of which are Evergreen, Everbearing, Cut-leaved, Atlantic, 

 Star, and Wonder, varieties which do not differ greatly, if at all, on the 

 grounds of this Station from the old Oregon Evergreen. 



